


The Art of Motherhood

by Pumpkinwarrior9



Category: Kirby (Video Games)
Genre: Gen, Redemption
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-03-19
Updated: 2018-04-06
Packaged: 2019-04-04 12:27:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 1,883
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14020239
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Pumpkinwarrior9/pseuds/Pumpkinwarrior9
Summary: Vividria more or less brings her mother Drawcia back from the dead and attempts to stop the consequences.





	1. The Artist Redrawn

It was another day of slaving away at the canvas for Vividria.

Her client had paid good money for this particular piece, a portrait of himself. Dedede had seen her draw first-hand on her latest journey, and he was impressed enough to commission her with his likeness. For a king notorious for his narcissism, King Dedede did at least pay well.

A few final brush strokes and Vividria’s signature finished off the piece. She considered this one of her best works, both in terms of quality and as a personal milestone. To think that this would be hung in royal halls made Vivi’s cheeks flush. She hoped that it would satisfy the king, especially as one of her first more realistic pieces.

Which reminded her of the painting in her closet.

Vivi rushed to the closet door and threw it open. Sure enough, the painting was still there, unchanged from yesterday but much less abstract than it had been ten years ago.  
Drawcia was recovering very slowly, as usual.

Vividria wondered how long it would take her to fully reform. Vivi herself was nearly an adult. At this rate, she could be as old as Drawcia herself by the time the witch returned. Unless…

Vivi’s ponytail grew restless. She could finish the painting right here and now, or ruin it forever is she made a mistake. As much as she doubted her own ability, Vivi desperately wanted to see her mother again… And on the other hand, she feared the consequences for Dreamland.

She remembered that she had just finished a piece for the king of Dreamland himself, and in the span of a few minutes that piece was set aside and Drawcia was on the easel.

With more care than she had ever used before, Vividria slowly filled in the gaps in Drawcia’s painted form, making sure to use the perfect colors. She swore she could hear her mother’s cackling through the painting as she worked. Though her body trembled, her ponytail stayed steady as it made its last few strokes. Vividria stepped back from the canvas. Nothing happened.

Then, several seconds later, the painting rose from the easel on its own.

The canvas grew and shortly after, with almost maniacal cackling, the sorceress Drawcia escaped the canvas and into Vividria’s cottage. The artist herself shook at the sound of Drawcia’s laughter; though her mother would never harm Vivi or a hair on her head, that laughter was never a good thing.

As Vivi made a quiet sob, Drawcia went dead quiet. She recognized that voice in an instant, no matter how small a sound it was. She looked frantically for Vivi and as soon as she laid her eye on her, she floated down and wrapped her in her cloak.

“Vivi?” Drawcia’s voice was calm now, and that calm spread to her daughter.

“Mom, I…”

“You’ve done something amazing, sweetheart,” Drawcia patted Vivi’s head with the other end of her cloak, “You brought me back. I’m so proud of you…”

The two sat on the colorfully-painted floor for a moment before Drawcia rose, a small cackle from her setting off an alarm in Vivi’s head.

“Now, it’s time to finish what I had started before that incident!  _ Eheeheehee! _ ”

Before Vividria could cry out for her mother to wait, Drawcia had already rushed out the door. This was exactly what she had feared. Without hesitation, Vivi rushed out the door to stop her mother from making the same mistake twice.


	2. A Daughter's Desperation

Drawcia hadn’t gone too far, just to the hill next to Vividria’s cottage. A large canvas on a similarly large easel stood at the top with Drawcia painting a portal upon it. Vivi knew exactly how this was going to play out, and she also knew that her mother would not listen to reason. 

She hurried halfway up the hill and produced her own canvas. As fast as she could, she painted a crude portrait of a spear-wielding waddle dee and released it from the canvas. The drawn dee rushed up to Drawcia and poked her in the back lightly. Its purpose now fulfilled, it disappeared in a splash of paint.   


“ _ Eee?! _ ” Drawcia turned around to see her daughter now floating up the hill towards you.   


“Mom!” Vivi tried to put as much authority in her voice as she could, “You’ve tried this before and it didn’t work! Do you- Do you really think it’ll work this time?!”

“Vivi, you don’t know for sure,  _ eehee! _ ” Drawcia tried to sound gentle, but that sentiment was lost in her single-minded desire, “Maybe if you helped me, we could rule a painted realm together!  _ Eheehee!! _ ”

Vivi shuddered; it was a natural reaction to her. But she now floated almost face-to-face with Drawcia.

“It’s- It’s not what’s best, though!” Vivi tried to find the right words to try to convince her mother of her wrongfulness, but came up short. “I was afraid this would happen…”

“Ee? What do you mean it’s ‘not what’s best?’” Drawcia stopped both her cackling and her drawing for a moment, “Vivi, we could rule like _goddesses!_ Isn’t that what’s best?”

Still at a loss for words, Vividria moved past Drawcia and slashed a giant X in red paint on the large canvas.

“ _ Vivi?!! _ ” Drawcia snapped, “ _ Eehee _ , What in the world are you  _ doing?! _ ”

Vivi struggled for words. “Mom, there are people here..! You can’t- just- take them over! It might- ruin their lives!”

“And  _ when _ has that stopped me before,  _ ee? _ ”

“It stopped you the- the last time you tried!” Vivi took a second to regain her breath, just now realizing she was on the verge of crying again, “I’ve lived here a long time, and the people here are… They’re really nice. I don’t want anything to happen to them…”   


Drawcia was silent for a moment. “...Fine. I’ll give you some time to prove to me that I shouldn't make this world my own."

Now tears did start to stream down Vivi’s cheeks. “Thank you… How… How long do I have?”

“Until I say so,” Drawcia flipped her brush and the easel and canvas disappeared. “I’ll make up my mind when I make up my mind.”

Vivi nodded and sniffed. “All… Alright.”

“Now,” Drawcia began to float back down the hill, “I’d like to see this studio of yours more closely.”   


Vividria only nodded again and followed her mother. She didn’t feel like speaking for a little bit.


	3. Inspecting the Studio

Drawcia took a good look inside Vividria’s small cottage. The walls were covered in cascades of bright, multicolored paint. Over half of it was a dedicated studio space, with multiple canvases bearing work-in-progress paintings as well as a couple finished ones. A desk for working on smaller stone sculptures, many of which were displayed there, took over another corner of the only room. Drawcia had to admit to herself that Vivi’s work was beginning to rival her own, and she would make a note to commend her for trying and succeeding in multiple mediums as well.

The remaining space contained little more than basic amenities. A bed, two bean bags, a table with four chairs, a kitchen space, a brick fireplace, and a wardrobe. There was one door at the back that was still open to a small closet with firewood and a place to hang a painting. Drawcia made the guess that she herself had been the painting hung there not long ago.

She began to look at Vividria’s paintings as she heard Vivi herself close the door and promptly collapse on the bed. Drawcia had many things to ask her about, but she obviously needed a few minutes to get her head together.

She instead redirected her attention back to the unfinished paintings. Out of the five canvases, four of them had landscapes in varying degrees of completion. She couldn’t tell what one of them was going to be, but the others appeared to be a forest road in autumn, a view from a mountain top, and some sort of tropical climate. The fifth painting was actually a complete portrait of someone she recognized. The grinning face of King Dedede looked at her with stunning detail. While she had used her own replica of Dedede to combat Kirby, the actual Dedede had combatted her.

“Vivi?” Drawcia asked gently.

“Yeah..?” Vivi rolled over to face her mother.

“Why do you have a painting of one of my adversaries..?”

Vivi was quiet for a moment. “Dedede commissioned me.”

“He... commissioned you,” Drawcia was genuinely puzzled.

“Dedede’s stuck up and and self-important, but his heart’s in the right place,” Vivi said wearily, “Plus, he pays well.”

“Hmm, I see.” The was a lie. Drawcia didn’t understand, at least not yet. Did Vivi think that her own heart was in the wrong place..?


	4. Artist's Choice

Drawcia hovered at the top of the hill with a canvas laid in front of her. The canvas was as blank as its artist’s mind. She tapped her paintbrush against the easel’s leg. It was no Power Paintbrush, but it would do.

But she didn’t get to painting yet. Art block was all the worse when the fate of a world rested on what she was going to draw.

* * *

 

Vividria awoke from another uneasy night’s sleep. Dreams never turned to nightmares in Dreamland, but Vivi’s dreams had come awfully close to that threshold since her mother was staying with her. Last night’s had been her sitting on a large throne with her mother, in a world made solely of paint. She then wandered an endless gallery with landscapes of worlds Drawcia had both stolen and created. It wasn’t unpleasant in itself, but that only made it more unnerving to wake up to.

She was about to make herself breakfast when she noticed that her mother was not in the beanbag where she usually slept, nor anywhere else in the cottage. She flew past the cramped furniture and out the door. 

* * *

 

Drawcia finally began to move her brush along the surface of the canvas. Even with a mastery of magic to lend a hand, a good painting was still delicate work, especially for her purposes. Little Vivi was in for the surprise of a lifetime. 

* * *

 

“Mom!” Vivi raced toward the hilltop, “What are you doing?!”

“What does it look like I’m doing, ehee?” Drawcia gestured with her brush to come over so that Vivi could see the canvas more clearly.

“Mom, please-” Vivi was about to make a plea before she got a look at the canvas.

The painting was unfinished, but it was a landscape with Vividria’s cottage at the center. The detail was incredible, yet distinctly the result of painting.

“Mom..?” Vivi was speechless.

“Ehee, I said I’d make up my mind when I made up my mind, didn’t I?” Drawcia gave Vividria as gentle of a look as she could manage, which still only barely did the job. “I’ve decided to give Dreamland a chance. I must admit, it does seem rather nice here, even if I’m not in charge…”

Vivi looked from the canvas to her mother and back a couple times before her eyes rested on her mother.

“I was worried…” Vivi approached and wrapped her ponytail around her mother, “Thank you…”

“You’re welcome,” Drawcia wrapped her cloak around her daughter and got back to her painting.


End file.
